The chief executive of Independent News & Media, Sir Anthony O'Reilly, is heading for a fresh clash with the minority shareholder Denis O'Brien over corporate governance.

O'Brien, who has a 22% stake in the company, is likely to raise objections to the composition of INM's board at the company's annual general meeting next month, following the publication of its annual report yesterday.

It threatens to be the latest flashpoint in a long-running war of words between the Irish billionaires. O'Brien has called for the loss-making Independent titles in Britain to be sold while O'Reilly has branded his adversary a "dissident" shareholder bent on destabilising INM.

INM's annual report said the company chairman, Brian Hillery, and 11 other non-executive directors were independent, a finding O'Brien is likely to dispute. In particular, it said Hillery's chairmanship of the energy firm Providence Resources, in which O'Reilly is an investor and where his son Anthony Jr is chief executive, did not compromise his independence.

The report found no problem with Hillery being the brother-in-law of another non-executive director, the Dublin stockbroker JC Davy. But it said Sir Anthony's sons on the board, Cameron and Anthony Jr, could not be considered independent. Another son, Gavin, is the company's chief operating officer.

The company defended a number of directors, arguing in the report that their independence "can be enhanced through a long-standing relationship with the company, which encourages an active and informed contribution to the board of INM".

O'Brien is unlikely to be impressed by these arguments, having criticised INM's corporate governance in the past. Last year, he commissioned a report from consultants at Davis Group that alleged nearly all the company's directors had affiliations with O'Reilly, and criticised the size of the board. "Denis O'Brien will have that report updated by this year's AGM," a spokesman for the telecoms billionaire said.

O'Brien has not decided whether to attend the meeting in London on June 11. He sent representatives to last year's event, at which the Davis Group report was dismissed by INM directors.

An INM spokesman said: "The Davis report and O'Brien's criticisms rely on a box-ticking approach to corporate governance. The company has performed well over many years and produces industry-leading margins from its businesses. The combined code gives us the option to comply or explain, and we have chosen to explain."

The annual report showed that O'Reilly was paid €2.2m (£1.74m) last year, up 21% on 2006 partly thanks to a €750,000 bonus. Gavin O'Reilly was paid €1.53m, up 9%, while UK chief Ivan Fallon collected €1.66m (£1.31m), a rise of 16%.